Andre Yoskowitz
9 Mar 2009 2:13
Barnes & Noble has formally jumped into the e-book market this week, purchasing the e-book retailer Fictionwise for $15.7 million USD.
William Lynch Jr., CEO of B&N, added that the company will be launching an e-book store later this year and that they purchased Fictionwise because they had "one of the most popular applications on the iPhone, and they really understand merchandising."
Fictionwise, which launched almost a decade ago, has sold about 5 million e-books and "will operate as an independent subsidiary of Barnes & Noble." Lynch Jr. reminds that Barnes & Noble was one of the first large retailers to begin offering e-books, which it did in 2001, but quit the practice in early 2003 as sales were virtually non-existent.
Fictionwise co-founder Stephen Pendergrast noted that he estimates the US e-book market amounted to $100 million USD in revenue for 2008 and expects the market to continue to grow.